Business Process basics first...

We can find many good descriptions but basically it all turns down to these basics.

Definition of a Business Process(BP):
A BP or business method is a collection of interrelated tasks, which accomplish a particular goal.

Types of business processes:

1. Management processes, the processes that govern the operation of a system. Typical management processes include "Corporate Governance" and "Strategic Management".
2. Operational processes, processes that constitute the core business and create the primary value stream. Typical operational processes are Purchasing & Supply Chain Management, Manufacturing, Branding-Marketing-Sales.
3. Supporting processes, which support the core processes. Examples include Finance & Accounting, HR & Recruitment, IT-support.

A BP begins with a customer’s need and ends with a customer’s need fulfillment.

Process oriented organizations break down the barriers of structural departments and try to avoid functional silos.

A BP can be decomposed into several sub-processes, which have their own attributes, but also contribute to achieving the goal of the super-process.

The analysis of BP's typically includes the mapping of processes and sub-processes down to activity level.

BP's are designed to add value for the customer and should not include unnecessary activities.

BPR (Business Process Re engineering) is the reviewing of the current running BP's and sub-BP's and should contain changes to optimize the overall process.

The outcome of a well designed BP or BPR is:

• Increased effectiveness (more value for the customer)
• Increased efficiency (less costs for the company)
• Iincreased speed & flexibility (lower throughput time).